UTA Internship (ENGL388V)
ENGL 388V is a four-credit course designed to guide students in their experiences as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in Academic Writing or Professional Writing courses. Students in ENGL 388V will serve as Undergraduate Teaching Assistants in either ENGL 101 or a Professional Writing course. The course has two distinct but integrated elements. Three-quarters of the UTA’s time (approximately eight-ten hours a week) and evaluation will take place in and related to the writing course, while the other quarter will take place in the supporting seminar that meets weekly. In Fall 2012, most UTAs will be assigned to sections of ENGL 101 or ENGL 393 that are part of the University’s Blended Learning Initiative. (For more information on the Blended Learning Initiative, see http://www.provost.umd.edu/announcements/BlendedLearning2011.cfm)
To be eligible as UTAs, students must:
- have junior or senior standing by Fall 2012
- have earned an A in the course in which they will work (students who were exempt from ENGL 101 or from PWP are still eligible to work as UTAs)
- a 3.0 GPA overall
Responsibilities of UTAs may include
- Basic classroom management
- Management of elements on ELMS
- Suggesting/selecting readings for a lesson
- Designing quizzes
- Designing and implementing style lessons
- Preparing brief digital components for the course
- Overseeing student participation on the discussion board
- Holding office hours
- Leading peer editing sessions online or face-to-face for small groups of students
- Making arrangements for class (technological, personalities to come in, field trip car pools, etc.)
UTAs will need to attend all meetings of the writing course they are assigned to, meet regularly with the course instructor for planning, and hold office hours for students in the course.
For the weekly seminar, students will read materials in composition theory and writing pedagogy. They will maintain blogs of their reflections on readings, making connections between their readings and classroom experiences, and create a final course portfolio featuring the work they have done in the writing classroom along with their reflections on that work.
This class requires permission for admittance. Students should contact Linda Macri, Director of Academic Writing, at lmacri@umd.edu or 301-405-3761.
Submit applications before May 1 for best consideration.
